Automatic fire-alarm



(No Model.)

G. B. RILEY.

AUTOMATIC FIRE ALARM.

No. 582,093. Patented May 4,1897.

UNITED STATES GEORGE B. RILEY, OF KAHOKA, MISSOURI.

AUTQMATlC WEE-ALARM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 582,093, dated May 4,1897. Application filed August 19,1896. Serial No. 603,263. (No model.)

To all, whom it many colzecrn:

Be it known that I, GEORGE B. RILEY, residing at Kahoka, in the countyof Clark and State of Missouri, have invented a new and ImprovedAutomatic Fire-Alarm, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates generally to firealarms, and Jarlyto an improvedobject being to prot l e levice which can be arranged for hotc teri s,and other buildings containing a i number of rooms, said alarm devicesbeing connected electrically with any suitable form of annunciatormechanism, whereby when the temperature within any certain room getsbeyond a certain predetermined point the alarm will be sounded in thecentral or main oflice, showing exactly in which room there is anexcessive degree of heat.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fire-alarm device whichcan be quickly and easily arranged in a hotel or other building having asystem of pushbell circuits for the separate rooms, said fire-alarmdevice being connected with the push-bell circuit, thereby avoiding thenecessity of stringing separate circuits for the fire-alarm device andvide a c a at a.

, at the same time saving a great deal of time,

labor, and money.

Another object of my invention is to provide an automatic device whichwill be operated to close a circuit whenever the temperature of the roomin which the circuit-closing device is located gets beyond a certainpoint, and another object of my invention is to arrange saidcircuit-closin g device with two contact-points, whereby the circuitwill be closed either by an excessive degree of heat or an excessivedegree of cold, thereby rendering the device particularly applicable togreenhouses and the like, where a uniform or average temperature isabsolutely necessary.

Another object of my invention is to provide an automatic fire-alarmdevice of the kind described which shall be exceedingly cheap and simplein construction and absolutely secure in operation.

Another object is to provide a protectingeover of the contact points andarm, whereby dust, dirt, and the like will be prevented fromaccumulating upon the points and whereby the efliciency of the device isgreatly improved and prolonged.

With these various objects in view my invention consists, essentially,in supporting a sensitive circular spring upon a base-plate ofnon-conductive material rigidly coni'recting an arm to the free end ofthe said circular spring, said spring being of such a nature as toreadily expand and contract by the rise and fall of temperature, wherebythe arm is vibrated and adapted to contact with a point connected with abell-circuit, the fixed end of the circular spring being connected withthe same circuit, whereby as the spring expands and causes the arm tocontact with the point the bell will be sounded and indicate exactlywhich room is in danger.

The invention consists also in arranging a protecting-hood upon the endof the vibrating arm and contactpoints, whereby said arm and points areprotected from dust, dirt, LQYC.

My invention consists also in certain details of construction andnovelties of combination, all of which will be fully describedhereinafter and pointed out in the claim.

In the drawings formiugapart of this specification, Figure 1 is a viewshowing my invention in use and arranged in a room of a hotel directlyabove the push-button. Fig. 2 is a face view of the device complete andready for attachment to the wall. Fig. 3 is a similar view showing thecap removed and also showing a slight modification in construction. Fig.4 is a sectional view upon the line a l of Fig. Fig. 5 is a detaildiagrammatic view showing the manner of connecting the fire alarm devicewith the push-button circuit.-

Fig. 6 is a section of the arm N. section of the spring M and O Incarrying out my invention I employ a base-board A, constructed of woodor other suitable material, the upper portion being essentiallyrectangular in shape,while the lower portion is preferably circular inshape.

A box-like cap or hood 13 is arranged upon the upper end of thebase-board A and is closed at its upper end and open at the lower end,as most clearly shown.

A perforated metallic plate 0 is arranged in the opening 6, produced inthe side of the hood or cap, and passing through the said plate is abinding-screw 0, through which Fig. 7 is a works a contact-point E, theinner end thereof being pointed with platinum to prevent corrosion.

A metallic plate G is arranged in the center of the lower portion of thebase-plate, and at one end of said plate is arranged an arm II, havingan overlapping end I, through which passes a binding-screw K.

Forwardly-prejecting lips L are arranged at the end of the plate G, andbetween the end I and the lips L, I secure one end of a circular springlai, said spring having an arm N integral therewith, which arm ispreferably made angular in cross shape to render the said arm stiff andto prevent undue vibration from jars and the like.

The circular spring M and the integral arm N are preferably made ofbrass, and brazed upon the exterior of the circular spring is a steelspring 0*, whereby sensitiveness of the circular brass spring isincreased and likewise the accuracy of the device.

The contact-arm II extends upward into the hood or cap and is preferablyprovided with a platinum point to prevent corrosion.

The wire 0 extends from the contact-point E, and a wire 0 extends fromthe contactplate, said wires 0 and 0 connecting with the pushbell wiresP and I The push-button Q, together with the wires P and P, are usuallyfound in most of the larger hotels in each room, and in order to placemy device in the said room it is only necessary to secure the base-boardcarrying the operative mechanism to the wall, and then connect the wires0 and O to the wires I and P of the push-button circuits. Thecontact-point E is then set at any desired point, so that thecontact-arm will come in contact therewith when the tem )erature reachesthe said point or goes beyond the same. Thus in case the limit is 110 itwill be seen that if the room should become heated beyond that point thecircular spring will expand, causing the contact-arm to move in thedirection of the arrow a and contact with the point ll, thereby closingthe circuit and sounding the bell in the central or main office, thusnotifying the person in charge that there is danger in a certain room,and arrangements can accordingly be made to suppress the fire in thesaid room.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a slight modifica tion in which the contact arm,plate, and operating-spring are all made in one piece, and

in addition to this modification I employ a second contact-point E,which can be regulated so that the circuit will be closed and the bellsounded whenever the temperature falls below a certain point, thusrendering the device particularly useful in greenhouses and the like,where a certain average temperature is needed.

The device is exceedingly cheap and simple, and by means of theprotecting hood or cap the contact-points will he kept free from alldust and dirt, and the efliciency of the device prolonged and increased.

By having the contact-points adjustable the device can be set and soundthe alarm at any predetermined temperature. Furthermore, the device canbe readily attached to any of the push-bell circuits now in use, andshould there be no such circuit-s the cost for stringing the wires forthe purpose of placing my alarm in use will be very small indeedcompared with the immense value its use would be, as it can be readilyseen that with such a device in each room of a large building andcapable of indicating at its central or main point exactly which room isin danger the risk of the [ire insurance company is greatly reduced, andconsequently the rate of insurance considerably lowered.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

The combination with the base-board having a protecting hood or cap atthe upper end, of the contact point or points arranged in the side orsides of said protecting hood or cap, the contact-plate attached to thelower end of the base-board, said contactplate having an arm at one end,said arm having an overlapping portion and the forwardly-projecting lipsat the end of the contact-plate, the hinding-screw, the sensitivecircular spring secured between the overlappingportion of the arm andforwardly-projcctii1g lips with the contact-plate, the contact armrigidly attached to the free end. of the circular spring and angular incross-section, all of said parts being arranged and adapted to operatesubstantially as shown and described.

GEO. l RILEY.

Vitnesses:

CHAS. E. BROOK, JAS. L. Cniiwr onn.

